Trish, who leafleted at Winter Jam Tour in Nashville, TN on March 13,
writes:

It was raining when I got there which was just as the doors opened at
5pm. I was able to hand out almost 500 leaflets to all people who would
take one who were waiting as the line slowly moved forward. After asking
"Would you like some free information on food? animals? health? I found
that boys responded to the food, girls the animal question, and adults
the health aspect. Some men actually jeered me after they discovered the
booklet was about vegetarianism and animal cruelty and made crude
comments about "cooking some pigs" and "hunting." I am sorry to say that
I am embarrassed for people who call themselves "Christian" yet seem to
have little, if any, compassion for the planet or the creatures on it.
It has increased my awareness that I should show kindness for all
because Jesus died for them, too.

In past essays, I have argued that the Bible mandates that we are
called to be responsible caretakers of God’s Creation, and this includes
treating God’s animals with compassion and respect. In our secular
society, the language and philosophy of animal rights articulates well
our biblical duties to nonhuman beings. This is certainly important for
animals, who are at our mercy. It is also crucial for humans, who
experience profound consequences when they deny to animals basic rights
such as freedom from slavery and abuse. In the next essays, I will focus
on practical consequences, and then I will address spiritual
consequences.

1. The environment. Many people are aware that the United
Nations Food and Agriculture Organization found that animal agriculture
contributes more to global warming than all forms of transportation
(including cars and airplanes) combined, 18% versus 14%. A 2009
WorldWatch report concluded that 51% of greenhouse gasses come from
animal agriculture. Their analysis included many estimates, but I think
it is safe to say that at least 35-40% of greenhouse gasses come from
this source. Therefore, moving to a plant-based diet is an imperative
component of any serious strategy to address global warming. In
addition, animal agriculture contributes heavily to depletion of
topsoil, water, energy, and other essential resources.

2. Human health. There is voluminous evidence that animal
flesh and other products are deleterious to human health. For people who
don’t have access to other sources of protein and other nutrients,
animal products are better than malnutrition. But for nearly everyone in
the West, plant-based foods offer substantial health benefits. This has
been well documented by numerous physicians and dieticians, and sources
of reliable information include www.pcrm.org
and www.veganhealth.org
.

3. World hunger. Much of the world’s agricultural production
consists of feed for animals destined for slaughter. Feeding plant foods
to animals, where it is inefficiently converted to flesh and other
products, rather than to people raises the cost of food for everyone.
This contributes to malnutrition and starvation among the poorest people
of the world.

Denying basic rights to animals means treating animals as a means to
selfish human ends. As a result, we have institutions of animal
exploitation and abuse that also have had serious consequences for human
welfare. The harm incurred to humans by denying rights to animals will
likely to increase over time as global warming disrupts ecosystems and
resource depletion imperils people throughout the world.

Next week, I will argue that humans are designed to be largely if not
exclusively herbivores, and the consequences of trying to live
differently are having devastating consequences for the entire world,
including its human inhabitants.

The new play, I’m Sorry, written by and starring Katya Lidsky, and
directed by Lauren Patrice Nadler, was sold out in January and is back
for performances from 4/29-5/22 at The Lounge Theater in Hollywood. Here
is a link to a review of the January performance.

To buy tickets, go to
www.plays411.com/sorry. Tickets are $10 online, $20 at the
door.

We have a new group in Santa Rosa based at the Church of the
Incarnation. It is called the Animal Ministry group, and we encourage a
vegan diet through a compassionate education program on behalf of the
relationship between God, humans, and animals.

If you are interested, contact [email protected] , and I will forward your message to
the coordinator, Eileen M. Harrington, MA MDiv.

* The editorial, "The Good Shepherd," reflects on the ancient Hebrew
image of God as the shepherd of Israel, a problematic ambivalence in the
image, and the radical resolution of that problem in the Fourth Gospel.

* In the Unset Gem, Lorena Mucke proposes that the heart of the Image
of God in which we are made is divine love, which links us to all other
beings.

* When time to prepare dinner is short, this Recipe for Soul-Food
Greens by Jennifer Weinbrecht makes for a satisfying quick entree.